On The Rocks, With A Twist
by RisemboolRanger
Summary: Joey Hatcher is a rebellious academy drop-out, desperate to redeem herself after deciding she still wants to graduate as a full-time guardian. But with all her training, will babysitting the queen's spoilt nephew be too much to handle? Set after TLS. Adrian/OC.
1. Hit Me

Joanne Hatcher, more commonly known as Joey, was a girl who liked to live in the moment. She rarely planned ahead and she didn't see any point in dwelling on past regrets…

Right now, however, she was feeling very stupid.

She generally coasted through life, acting on impulsive whims. Her latest had been dropping out of St. Vladimir's Academy, where she'd been training to become a guardian, not long before her graduation in an attempt to pursue a career with the alternative rock band she fronted.

That had been… stupid, for lack of a better word. Dhampirs, half vampire and half human, like herself generally followed one of two options – being a stay at home mom (_so_ not happening) or being trained to become a protector of Moroi, who were the "good" kind of vampires.

Joey had been following the second option at St. Vladimir's; a prestigious guardian training academy. She'd been there for the last several years and had been close to graduating as an official guardian… But, impulsive as ever, when she'd had a call from one of her band mates suggesting that their band could make it big she'd jumped at the chance and dropped out without another thought.

Bumming around with her band had been insanely fun at times. It had been so different and _so_ much better than her lifestyle at the Royal Court. They hadn't done too badly either, considering the little time they'd actually been performing together. They managed to book themselves a couple of small venue gigs and even recorded an amateur EP together. Nothing major, but nothing to sniff at.

After a year of trying to fit into the music business they'd had to concede that the likelihood of them making it big was very slim. Joey's band mates had homes in the human world that they'd been able to go back to, whereas Joey had ran out of money and had had to return to the Court.

Even though it hadn't worked out she never would have thought that she'd regret the time she'd spent on her music break… But when she'd gotten home things hadn't quite gone as she'd expected.

From childhood to when she'd left for St. Vladimir's she'd breezed through her life at the Court. Her mother, Mela, may have been the only Moroi around who'd actually married her dhampir guardian, but she was actually a very well-liked member of one of the twelve royal vampire families.

The Conta family had been fairly quiet over the last few years, with Joey's aunt Marie as the head of their line, but Mela was very popular as the middle princess. She had a lot to say in matters at the Court and her status generally allowed Joey to bend more rules than most.

But when Joey had returned home and very naively stated that she'd like to finish her training and graduate from St. Vladimir's, the academy had refused her point blank. For starters, at the age of twenty, Joey was now too old to return to school.

And no matter how good of a guardian to-be she'd made, they didn't want dhampirs who weren't one hundred percent committed. Joey actually _had_ been a good guardian in-training, but recklessly dropping out to follow a spur of the moment decision showed that she was impulsive and couldn't be counted on to protect a Moroi in the long run.

She'd insisted that now that her lapse was out of the way she was still committed to putting Moroi first. But since her father was an elite guardian himself he was not impressed at what she'd done and insisted that she'd gotten what she deserved.

Luckily Joey's mother was a lot softer. She'd been telling everyone that 'teenagers will be teenagers' and had promised Joey that she'd try her best to pull some strings and see if there was a way she could redeem herself and prove to everyone that she _could_ be a good guardian.

After a discussion with the royal council, Mela managed to find a solution. But it was not quite what Joey had bargained for... The council agreed that she could complete her field experience at the Court as a trial – where it would be carried out in the same way as it was at St. Vladimir's.

For the field experience every dhampir was assigned a Moroi who they would have to guard twenty-four hours a day, six days a week. They were allowed Sundays off for recreation. They were given practice stakes and would be ambushed at unpredictable times by other guardians pretending to be Strigoi – these were the "bad" kind of vampires; ones who had been turned from Moroi and lost all humanity. They would have to fight against these guardians in order to protect their Moroi. Several guardians who lived at the Court had offered to juggle their schedules so that they could help play Strigoi.

Because the Court was so well protected the guardians there had a bit more free reign and didn't have to be watching their Moroi every second of the day. A few of the Moroi there didn't even have their own guardians – something which was unheard of anywhere else, with the exception of the young Moroi who were still in school.

Because of this the council had been happy to give Joey a probationary Moroi assignment. The Moroi wouldn't be in danger if it turned out that Joey really didn't make a good guardian, since they were already under such heavy guard just by living at the Court. So the field experience wouldn't present them with any risks.

Joey wouldn't have minded any of this. When the idea had all been explained to her it had sounded like a very fair offer. Not to mention she was itching to show off her skills against the fake Strigoi.

No… Her problem with this assignment was the Moroi they'd assigned her to…

Adrian Ivashkov.

She'd known Adrian since they were kids and it had been a rocky relationship right from the start. The only foundation between them had been how they'd constantly attempted to pull tricks on each other.

Of course their parents had assumed they were having fun and had continued to push them together, expecting them to be friends. But the truth was that Joey had never liked Adrian and he had always gone out of his way to pick on her.

Now she had to spend the next several months at his side, protecting him from any possible dangers. The idea seemed silly to her when _she_ was more likely to be a threat to him than anything else. What had she done to deserve this again? Dropping out of the academy didn't feel like a big enough sin.

So, even though she'd only been back at Court for three days, she was already forced into seeking out the one person she'd intended to avoid for as long as possible. Mela had told her that Adrian had been made aware of – and been surprisingly happy to agree to – the arrangement. Which meant that now, annoyingly, Joey had another favour to ask him… So it was with great reluctance that she headed down towards where she remembered Adrian's room to be.

The last time she'd seen him they'd only been fifteen and she'd been leaving for St. Vladimir's Academy. Of course he'd played another trick on her that had resulted in her nearly missing her flight… She hoped he'd gotten more mature since then, but she knew that it probably wasn't very likely.

She hesitated out in the corridor when she finally got to his room, then sighed and reluctantly knocked on the door. She wasn't going to get anywhere as a guardian standing out here… She frowned when there was no response and knocked even harder.

When there was still nothing she tried the door handle. It swung open at her touch so she tentatively stepped inside. The lights were off and the curtains were still drawn. Was he still asleep? She couldn't decide whether it was more likely that the door was unlocked because he wasn't here or because he was.

She heard something move behind her and whirled around to see a figure step out from behind the door. There were no guesses as to who it was.

"I've been trained to expect surprise attacks – did you really think that was going to work?" said Joey scornfully. "I know I dropped out of training but I'm still not gonna scare so easily."

"You always used to," came the amused reply. "But now you're just taking the fun out of it."

"Well I'm very sorry about that," said Joey sarcastically. "And quit lurking in the dark – you're not Dracula."

As soon as she said it light suddenly filled the room. Adrian was leaning casually against the wall, his hand still on the light switch. He was wearing the typically amused expression that she remembered all too well. "Ah, I've missed you, Hatchet."

"Hatcher," Joey corrected loudly.

She'd been right. His personality hadn't changed a bit… He was still the same frustrating brat who'd always done whatever he pleased. And from the scent of mingled alcohol and smoke wreathing him he seemed to have picked up a few more bad habits too.

Joey resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose. The alcohol didn't bother her in the slightest – it was hardly something she could judge after the amount she'd destroyed her own liver, particularly over the last several years. But she'd never been a fan of smokers… That was just another thing about Adrian that was sure to get on her nerves.

Though appearance wise she was surprised to see that he'd taken a positive turn. He'd always been a little on the scrawny side as a kid, but at some point over her years away from the Court he'd clearly shot up and filled out quite nicely. He'd grown his brown hair out a little longer too and it looked as if it had been styled to be deliberately messy.

The emerald green eyes and sardonic smile were still the same as ever though. And whilst Joey was taking in his appearance she saw that he was very obviously looking her up and down too. Some guys just didn't know the art of subtlety.

"Hey, quit leering at me like that," she scolded. The last thing she wanted right now was to be treated like some blood whore by the one person she'd always openly disliked.

"I wasn't leering; I was admiring," countered Adrian, not even denying it. "You make me sound like some kind of sleazy womaniser."

"I may not have been back here for very long but that's exactly what I've heard," Joey pointed out. It was true. Apparently Adrian had a reputation for being a notorious ladies' man.

Adrian grinned. "Guilty as charged, I admit… So since you're already familiar with that fact does that mean I can still bring girls back to my room?"

"Over my dead body," growled Joey. "Not while I'm here!"

There was no way in hell she wanted to share a room with people having sex. It was already bad enough that she was going to have to stay in Adrian's room for the whole ordeal.

That was easily the worst part of field training, but guardians had to be with their charges at all times. Strigoi weren't going to be deterred just because it was night time – that was actually when they were most likely to pose a threat. So the guardians had to practice and prepare for that.

"Aww, are you worried you'll feel left out?" teased Adrian. "Don't worry; I'm sure I know at least one wild girl who'd be up for a threesome."

"Go fuck yourself," Joey retorted heatedly.

"Why would I need to when most girls would be willing to do it for me?" Adrian smirked. "And I'm pretty sure you'd be one of them – I know you've always had the hots for me."

Joey clenched her fists. This wasn't going well… They'd been in a room together for all of two minutes and she already wanted to hit him. How the hell was she going to get through this? "Never in a million years, pretty boy. You're still the same obnoxious brat I always hated as a kid."

"Hate's such a strong word," Adrian tutted. "You know it's not true."

"Yes it is. You always went out of your way just so you could mess with me," said Joey.

"That was simply out of love," said Adrian teasingly. "And it never caused you any real problems, did it?"

"The last time I saw you, you locked me in a cupboard for half an hour and I very nearly missed my flight to Montana," Joey reminded him.

"Maybe I didn't want you to go."

"Or maybe you just wanted to screw things up for me."

"Well it sounds like you didn't need my help with that," said Adrian pointedly. "But for the record, college drop-outs are much sexier than graduates in my opinion."

"It's not college, moron," replied Joey. "It's an academy that would have determined my entire future. That's why I'm doing this; I don't want to end up like some blood whore…"

"You know that I'd have no problem with that," Adrian said brightly, in what he clearly thought was a reassuring way.

"As strange as it may sound, I actually don't care what you think," replied Joey hotly. "Or about anything else to do with you for that matter."

"Really?" Adrian placed a finger on his chin and pretended to think. "So if that's the case then what are you doing here in my room already? I was told your field training doesn't officially start till twelve."

Great. She couldn't really put it off any longer… Joey knew that she hadn't been doing a very good job of buttering him up before she made her request, but it had never really been an option anyway. Being nice wasn't something that came all that naturally to her.

So she simply tried to play it casual instead. "I was just wondering if it was cool for me to bring some stuff up since I'll be staying here for a while."

If this was where she was going to be staying for the next several weeks she was going to need some of her _own_ stuff to feel at least marginally comfortable. But unfortunately, she knew that she'd have to ask Adrian first since it _was_ his room. He'd been a surprisingly good sport in accepting the whole fielding training, seeing as he had nothing to gain from it… But just how far was his cooperation going to stretch?

To Joey's surprise, it seemed he hadn't reached the limit of his generosity just yet. "Sure, bring whatever you like," he said with a shrug. "As long as it doesn't include another guy, otherwise I might get jealous."

Joey rolled her eyes. She'd spent the last year living with two guys and she was pretty sure that in that whole time they hadn't made as many suggestive comments as Adrian had in the last five minutes. She couldn't really sniff at how helpful he was being though – he could have easily made this a lot more difficult for her.

"Thanks," she said reluctantly.

Adrian held a hand to his ear. "Hang on a second, I don't think I heard you right… Were you just actually _civil_ to me?"

Joey glared at him. "You know in about two hours they'll be giving me a practice stake, right? I'm not against turning rebel and using it on you instead."

Adrian just chuckled. "Oh Hatchet, this is going to be so much fun."

"Fun's not exactly the word I'd use," said Joey through gritted teeth. "And stop calling me that!"

"So what word would you use? Enjoyable? Stimulating? A sexual adventure?" Adrian grinned.

"That's more than one word, numbskull," Joey grumbled. "And in your dreams."

Adrian just smiled, though more to himself. "Ah yes, in my dreams… Though I guess you wouldn't know about that yet. Maybe we'll see…" he said distantly, going off on a rather distracted tangent.

Joey raised her eyebrows. It was as if he'd forgotten she was even there. "What are you talking about, you weirdo?" She'd seen him do this a few times in the past – he'd just completely zone out. She waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey, are you listening?"

Adrian abruptly snapped to his senses like nothing had even happened. "Sorry Hatchet, what were you saying?"

Joey frowned. Was he doing it on purpose just to mess with her? "Are you fucking with me?"

Adrian grinned. "Do you want me to?"

Joey just sighed. "Never mind." He was so incredibly tiresome to try and talk to.

"I do have a serious question for you though."

Joey's eyebrows rose even further. "Yeah? What is it?"

"When did you get _those_?" Adrian pointed very obviously to her chest. Joey glared and then hit him not too lightly on the shoulder. "Ow! Hey, guardians are supposed to protect Moroi, not attack them!"

"We're allowed to defend ourselves when it comes to sleazy guys," Joey countered testily, before huffing, "And it's not my fault I developed late!" It was true – up until the age of sixteen she'd been as flat as a board. It was especially late for a dhampir, who were known for their curvy figures.

"I didn't say it like it was a bad thing," reassured Adrian, his grin returning. Joey wanted to slap it off his face. "This is definitely going to be entertaining... I say roll on twelve o'clock!"

Joey scowled. "Yeah, let's fast forward to when they give me a weapon… I hope you can snooze with your eyes open, Ivashkov, or I'll be staking you in your sleep."

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Oh yes, yet another story… I just can't help myself OTL.

I actually started on this quite a while back, just after I'd finished The Last Sacrifice – it just needed a lot of shaping up… So that's why this plotline clearly runs differently to what we're now used to in Bloodlines. I didn't want to give up on the idea after I'd read Bloodlines though, so I'm just gonna carry on with it like I would have done. We'll call it an alternate universe of sorts… This is fanfiction after all!

I feel the need to say also that Richelle Mead totally took over as my favourite author after reading the Vampire Academy series and Adrian has gotta be one of the best fictional characters of all time! So I really hope I haven't screwed him up too badly… Hope you've all enjoyed so far!

And for anyone who'd like to know a bit more on Joey I have a profile up on my deviantART account =] Or you can just message me if you don't know where to find it!


	2. Bottoms Up

"Please tell me you're not seriously bringing that thing in here."

"Don't call her 'that thing'," Joey scolded. "She's a she and she has a name."

"And an appropriate one at that," Adrian muttered.

Joey rolled her eyes as she set down the tank she'd been struggling with onto an empty surface. She'd brought as little stuff as she thought she could cope with down to Adrian's room – she didn't want to be indebted to him anymore than she needed to be.

In the tank she'd been carrying – and the source of Adrian's displeasure – was her Brazilian rainbow boa called Blackheart. She knew that bringing a pet snake with her was pushing the hospitality a little, but she'd missed her baby whilst she'd been away from Court. Plus she knew that Adrian had always disliked Blackheart. Joey wanted at least one way to make this ordeal more fun.

Of course Adrian could have just told her no snakes allowed, but Joey had always managed to get her way when it came to her reptilian friend. Coming from a royal background had helped her learn all the tricks of the trade when trying to get what she wanted.

"Be nice to her or I'll let her loose in your room," Joey warned teasingly. She felt smug because she knew that he'd take her threat all too literally. His dislike for Blackheart certainly stemmed from his fear as a kid.

"That's my point," Adrian grumbled. "Don't you worry that it might escape and kill someone?"

"I highly doubt she'd kill anyone," Joey scoffed.

"But isn't that what those ones do?" Adrian pointed at the tank. His knowledge of snakes wasn't very extensive, but he at least knew that Joey's pet wasn't poisonous. "I thought they could strangle people?"

"She's only a baby," Joey pointed out condescendingly.

Adrian raised his eyebrows. "A _baby_?" He wasn't sure how a four-foot snake could be classed as a 'baby'.

"She wouldn't be strong enough to overpower an adult person. If anyone thought they were in danger from her they could easily pull her off," Joey explained. She then looked hopeful and very pointedly added, "Though maybe not if they were drunk or heavily medicated."

"Now you're just winding me up."

"Why don't we test it and find out?" Joey suggested brightly. "I'll go find you some vodka."

"Very funny, Hatchet," said Adrian, unimpressed. Joey scowled at the use of the nickname she'd always hated. "Are you _sure_ that thing's not dangerous?"

"Yes I'm sure," replied Joey exasperatedly. "If it makes you feel any better I won't even let her out in here."

"Good," said Adrian, still not looking entirely comfortable with the idea. "You know, most girls would rather have a fluffy bunny or kitten for a pet. Or one of those little dogs that live in handbags."

"They don't count as real dogs; they're just poor excuses," Joey countered. "And I don't even own a handbag."

"Maybe you should try it," Adrian suggested. "It's handy for storing all of a girl's necessities!"

"The only necessity I'm going to have is a silver stake," said Joey confidently. "Which I certainly wouldn't keep in a handbag… And any handbag big enough to keep a stake in would just look stupid."

"God forbid you'd care about how you look," teased Adrian. He gave her a look that was half amused, half approving. "Though I guess you do. In your own weird way... I must admit I think I kinda like the whole rocker chick look."

It was true that Joey had always had more of an alternative style – with her punky choice in clothing and her multiple tattoos (though most of them were usually covered). Her thick, layered black hair naturally reached just past her shoulders, but when she could be bothered to style it she preferred to wear it in a wild backcombed fashion.

"I think someone else here cares a lot more about how they look," Joey pointed out. Considering Adrian apparently just spent his time bumming around at the Court, he was dressed to impress with his upmarket clothes.

"Touché," Adrian conceded. "You're quick, Hatchet. I'll give you that."

"I know," said Joey simply. She generally didn't purposely try to come across as arrogant, but she certainly wasn't going to just humbly accept a compliment from Adrian Ivashkov.

Of course, irritatingly, Adrian just found her attitude to be all the more amusing. He grinned. "Well you're definitely going to keep me on my toes, aren't you?"

"If only that was literal," Joey snorted. "From what I've heard all you do is just laze about here at Court."

"I prefer to call it 'living in luxury'," said Adrian, gesturing air quotes with his fingers.

"I'm sure you do," said Joey sarcastically. "You always _did_ find a walk-around for everything."

Adrian's grin widened. "Aww Hatchet, I'm so glad you noticed."

Before Joey had time to think of a witty retort there was a sharp knock at the door. They both turned automatically towards it – Joey reacting more quickly than Adrian, before remembering that it wasn't her door to answer. Technically, she was just a lodger of sorts.

Adrian got the door. It was a female dhampir that Joey recognised but didn't actually know personally. Her name was Hana and her charge was an earth user called Emery. Joey didn't really know much about him either, besides that he was British and that his family were old friends of the royal Szelsky family. He'd been staying at the Court on a long-term visit.

Like most dhampirs, Hana had fairly generous curves and was significantly taller than Joey. She had long black hair that was kept tied back and pretty features, teamed with dark eyes. Of course, like most attractive girls probably did, she immediately sparked Adrian's interest.

"How can I help you?" he asked, uncharacteristically polite and full of charm – the perfect figure of a young royal. Only Joey knew that it was all just an act. Said charm? More like pure sleaze.

Luckily for Hana, she was either oblivious to his charms or she was just smart and not interested in lazy, egotistical rich kids. "I'm looking for Joanne Hatcher," she said rather stiffly.

"That's me." Joey stepped forward, attempting to look semi-professional. Or at least not as kiss-ass as Adrian.

"The time is twelve o'clock and your field training is about to begin," Hana announced proficiently. "Guardians Leon Michaelis, Valentin Volkov, Miller McKinnon, Ray Hawthorne and myself, Hana Reeds-Hood, will be playing the parts of Strigoi attackers during your training in order to assess your ability to protect your charge. When doing so we shall be wearing black clothing, so that you can identify us."

Joey nodded. She didn't know a Ray Hawthorne – he must have been new – but she knew all of the others at least by name from growing up at the Court. Especially Leon Michaelis, urgh… He was very attractive, but he was yet another guy whose looks were trumped by his irritating personality. Adrian being the first example of that, of course.

"Your charge is Adrian Ivashkov," continued Hana, only giving Adrian the barest of glances. Gutted for him. "Monday to Saturday you will be at his side twenty-four hours a day. On Sundays you are free to do as you please – they will be exempt from the training."

Joey hadn't even started the training and she already knew she'd be looking forward to those Sundays. She still didn't think that anything deserved the punishment of having to endure one hundred and forty-four consecutive hours of Adrian Ivashkov.

"Here is your practice stake. You must keep it with you at all times," said Hana, handing Joey a wooden replica of the silver stakes that were used to kill Strigoi. "Good luck. Your training begins now."

Joey half expected the older dhampir to jump her from the word go, but instead she just turned round and left. She guessed that would have been too easy… No, the other dhampirs were going to stage their attacks when she least expected it. She had to be on guard at all times.

The thought seemed to trigger something inside her. She suddenly felt hyperaware of all of her surroundings as she easily sank back into the old guardian mindset that she was so used to. She may not have had to think this way for a while, but it was still part of her – it was the training that was drilled into all dhampirs who decided they wanted to become guardians.

And this was it now… If she screwed up this time she'd never have a hope of becoming a guardian. There'd be no more second chances.

Not only that… She was now officially stuck with Adrian for the next eight weeks. She was going to _need_ some faked Strigoi attacks in order to stay sane.

"So… Now what?" Adrian asked brightly.

"Now I'm on duty," answered Joey simply.

_Now_ she just had to wait… It wasn't likely that anything would happen over the next few days. She remembered when the students in the years above her had had to do their field training at the academy. Some of them hadn't had any 'input' from the teachers for at least the first week. The longer they kept you waiting, the more likely you were to lapse and that's when they'd catch you out. Which was exactly why Joey had to make sure she was completely aware of everything around her at all times.

She tested the feel of the stake in her hand. Guardians didn't get to use real silver ones until they graduated and received their promise mark. They didn't even get given practice ones to play with until very late on in their training. It wasn't the first time Joey had used one though – it felt good to have the weight of it back in hand.

"So that means that whatever I do… you have to follow, right?"

Joey gritted her teeth. She didn't like the look on Adrian's face. And she did _not_ like the sound of where this was going… Especially since, infuriatingly, he was right. She could hardly guard him if he wasn't in her sights at all times. "As long as it's on site."

"On site?" repeated Adrian.

"You can't leave the Court until this is over. We have to stay here where the other dhampirs can oversee the training," Joey explained. "Didn't you listen when they told you all of this?"

"I may or may not have selective hearing," replied Adrian casually. "So you're telling me that because I was so kind as to help you out, I've now gotta stay here at the Court indefinitely for the next few months?"

"From what I heard that's all you've been doing anyway," Joey pointed out. She didn't feel like being guilt tripped by the one person who'd always driven her crazy enough as it was.

"Well maybe I was starting to fancy a change of scenery…" said Adrian, pretending to look thoughtful.

Joey sighed. "Are you always this annoying?"

"I think charming is more the word you're looking for," said Adrian helpfully.

"No, I definitely think annoying is closer to the mark," insisted Joey.

"You're breaking my heart, Hatchet," said Adrian dramatically. "After I've been oh so nice and given up my own free time purely for your own benefit."

"I'm pretty sure you agreed to it more for your own amusement," countered Joey. "I've thanked you once; I'm not doing it again. You already know I'm grateful for all this, so you can stop milking it."

Adrian grinned. "But it's so much fun to hear… Not even one more time?"

"Don't push it."

Even in that first day Joey realised just how true it was that most of a guardian's job was just standing around and waiting. But she really couldn't afford to slip up and she certainly wasn't going to complain about it. Now she just had to play the good little guardian.

Adrian had harassed her for a little while longer before he'd seemingly grown bored and turned to his drink instead. He drank a lot – that much was clear straightaway. Particularly from the fact that he obviously spent a lot of time drinking alone in his room.

Joey couldn't understand how he could stand spending most of his time that way. She didn't really care if he had a social life or not, but she knew that _she'd_ be bored to tears if she had to spend the next few months staring at the same four walls. And she wasn't sure if Adrian drinking was a good thing or not… It certainly mellowed him out more, but then at least the banter from before had been something to do.

He'd offered her a drink too but she'd not-so-politely abstained. As much as she enjoyed alcoholic beverages and the effects that came with them, such substances were the last thing she could afford to have whilst on duty.

"Why don't you sit down?" Adrian suggested after a while, lying back languidly on his bed. "It's weird with you just hovering like that."

"I'm good," replied Joey dryly. No way in hell was she going to sit on the bed with him lounging across it like that. "Most guardians prefer to stand. It's easier to react from a standing position."

"Check you, acting all professional," Adrian teased.

"Don't knock it. I might save a Moroi's life one day," said Joey haughtily.

Adrian smiled. "You really take all this seriously, don't you?"

Joey shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." She _did_ want to become a guardian, in spite of what her track record suggested. But she knew she could hardly get all high and mighty about how seriously she took the training after she'd already skipped out on it once.

Adrian was clearly thinking the same thing. "So why did you drop out if it's oh so important to you?"

"Because it suited me at the time," Joey replied shortly. She really hoped he didn't think they were going to have a sensitive talk where she'd pour her heart out to him… There wasn't really much to pour out anyway. "I don't have to explain it to you."

Adrian laughed. "That's more like it. I thought you were gonna go all deep and meaningful on me for a minute there."

Joey resisted the urge to smile. "I thought _you_ were the one doing that."

"Nah." Adrian stretched out, looking completely at ease. "I admit sensitive isn't really my style."

"Trust me; you don't have to admit it," Joey pointed out. Anyone could tell that. But then there _was_ something odd about his tone, like he wasn't entirely telling the truth…

Yet he still looked as laidback as ever. "You're pretty straight up, Hatchet. Like me. We're two of a kind… So you can quit the whole hating on me thing, y'know."

"Maybe if you stop calling me that," countered Joey. She then added as an afterthought, "And all the sexual comments too."

Adrian's green eyes sparkled mischievously. "Hmm, now you're asking a lot…"

"And so are you," said Joey, unable to resist grinning this time. She grabbed one of the pillows off the end of the bed and threw it at him. "So no deal."

Adrian automatically brushed his hair back into place, even though the pillow had barely disturbed it. He looked amused. "Hatchet, are you trying to start a pillow fight? That's incredibly kinky."

"You wish," scoffed Joey. "And if _you_ try staging a pillow fight then I'll hold one over your face until you suffocate."

Adrian looked unconcerned. "You wouldn't really want to do that. Let's face it; the world's clearly a better place with me in it."

"Wanna bet?"

And so the banter continued.

As it got later the atmosphere grew more restless. Geez… Ten hours in this stupid room was beyond boring. How the hell was Joey supposed to endure another two months of this? Adrian had now drunk so much that he'd started to become drowsy and thoroughly uninteresting. Joey had a sinking feeling that this was a regular occurrence too.

"I thought you were supposed to be this big party boy," she pointed out. "Don't you ever go anywhere?"

"Times have changed whilst you've been gone, Hatchet," said Adrian casually. "I go out when I'm in the mood."

"So usually it's just a party for one?" said Joey pointedly.

"You got it," Adrian yawned. "Besides, you said I can't leave the Court right now anyway. So where do you expect me to go?"

"Just out of this room would be a plus," said Joey.

"You don't care for my bachelor's pad?" asked Adrian, putting on his best hurt look.

"I can't say I do."

Adrian couldn't help grinning. Her attitude really was unrelenting. It had been a while since he'd enjoyed repartee like this… "So refresh my mind on this… As long as I stay at the Court you have to go everywhere that I do, right?"

Joey sighed. The same sense of foreboding that she'd felt the last time he'd brought this up returned. "Yeah. I have to stay with you at all times."

Adrian's grin widened. "Then you're in luck because I was feeling like taking a shower…" Joey threw another pillow at him in response. "Hey! I don't think you realise that this is the invitation of a lifetime…"

"Over my dead body!" protested Joey. "Surely you're not stupid enough to realise that things like showering are exempt? The guardians would have told you about that too. You really _don't_ listen, do you?"

Adrian's smile didn't waver. "I told you I have selective hearing."

Joey rolled her eyes. "Whatever. If you wanna shower then go. I am most definitely going to wait in here."

Adrian just laughed at her. But he did still take her advice, grabbing a towel and disappearing into the en-suite. Joey sighed again. She couldn't believe this was only day one… If Adrian continued to be this irritating then she was going to seriously consider her pillow threat.

She gingerly sat on the edge of the bed whilst she waited, feeling on edge. Guardians really did have their training drilled into their very core – she felt tense with her charge being out of her sight. It was silly really… Adrian wasn't even a real charge and he was only in the next room. But at least it proved that her natural instincts were as good as any other guardian's.

It turned out that Adrian took extremely long showers. Needing something to do, Joey unrolled and laid out the sleeping bag that she'd brought with her. Somehow she doubted Adrian that would be staying up too late after the amount he'd drank… The drowsiness effect would properly kick in sooner or later. She knew that from much personal experience.

After a quick check to see if she could hear that the shower was definitely still running, she swiftly changed into her pyjamas. This was quite an annoying compromise for her – she didn't usually wear anything to sleep in. But it went without saying that she certainly wasn't going to be doing that when sharing a room with her least favourite rich boy.

So her compromise consisted of a pair of white short shorts and an oversized navy tank top. That was probably about as comfy as she was going to get staying here… But it would have to do.

Once changed she crouched down next to Blackheart's tank and muttered sweet nothings to her through the glass for a while. Adrian _still_ didn't resurface. Eventually she straightened up and went to go and bang on the door to the en-suite. "Hey! You haven't drowned in there, have you?" she called. "Because I think they might give me a bad grade for that."

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, she got a reply through the door. "Aww, it's okay Hatchet, you're allowed to worry about me. You don't have to use your assignment as an excuse."

"Maybe I wish you _had_ drowned," Joey grumbled.

"What was that?"

"Never mind."

The Moroi boy did eventually emerge from the en-suite. When he did his sable brown hair was still damp and he wasn't wearing anything besides a pair of expensive-looking boxer shorts. The towel he'd used was casually slung over his shoulder in a cliché pin-up fashion. He looked like a model in the middle of some bath time shoot.

"You look ridiculous," Joey told him.

"I think you mean sexy," Adrian corrected her.

"No, I really don't. Ridiculous was actually me being nice," Joey insisted. "Now put some clothes on or I'll…"

"Take yours off too?" Adrian interrupted hopefully.

"Or I'll throw something a lot heavier than a pillow at you."

As usual the threat just rolled right off him. "Sorry Hatchet, I don't wear clothes to sleep in."

Joey gritted her teeth. This was never-ending… But then she couldn't really complain much when she felt the same about having to wear pyjamas. Somehow she had a feeling that Adrian wouldn't be as bothered as she was about going without. "Has that always been true or has it just suddenly come about now?"

Adrian laughed, pulling a hairdryer out of one of the drawers and plugging it in. "No, I've honestly never been a fan of PJs." He put the hairdryer on the lowest setting so that he could still talk over it. His hair didn't look like it would require much drying anyway. "Except yours I'm quite liking. They're both cute _and_ sexy."

Joey sighed. "Just hurry up with your hair and get into bed."

Adrian gave her an amused look, raising his eyebrows. "I wasn't aware you'd be setting bedtimes for me too."

"Yeah, well, I get the feeling that sleep is one of the only things that'll shut you up," replied Joey. "And if you don't do that soon I'm going to start breaking things. You're top of that list in case you hadn't guessed."

"Do you realise that every time you threaten me it just turns me on more?"

This time Joey _did_ throw something heavier at him. She grabbed one of his deodorant bottles from the sideboard and lobbed it across the room. She missed on purpose but he got the message.

"Okay, okay. You don't _really_ have to start breaking things."

He blow-dried his hair rather swiftly after that. Only when he eventually got into bed did Joey feel happy to finally get into her sleeping bag as well. That was her field training done for today at least. Good god, please let tomorrow be less tedious, she thought as she lay down.

Adrian shut the lights off from the switch above his bed. "Sweet dreams, Hatchet," he said teasingly. "Sleep tight."

"Don't let the highly annoying vampires bite," Joey muttered to herself.


	3. First Round

For the first several days, Joey's discovery that the field training was mostly just waiting around was proved even further. The other guardians had passed by on occasion, but all they ever seemed to do was observe and take notes. Every time she'd seen them had put her more on edge.

But thankfully things got a lot more interesting really quickly. Her first 'Strigoi attack' occurred only less than a week into the start of her field training. And boy, was Joey ready for it. Almost five consecutive days of Adrian had certainly built up a lot of pent-up frustration… And Joey had just been itching to take it out on somebody – since she unfortunately wasn't allowed to assault the Moroi she was meant to be protecting.

Amazingly, they'd actually been out of Adrian's room for once. It turned out that even the lazy rich boy got bored of the same scenery all the time. Plus he'd decided that being down to only three bottles of vodka and two kinds of wine meant that his alcohol supply was 'running low'.

And apparently the solution to that was going down to his father's room and taking some of _his_ liquor instead. Joey rolled her eyes when she heard of his plan, but of course she was in no position to tell him no. He wasn't intending to leave the Court premises or anything… So Joey just had to follow him and go along with it.

She was grateful that Adrian's father wasn't around when he staged his little breaking and taking scheme. Though her parents' unusual, interracial marriage was quite well accepted there were still a lot of royals that looked down on her. Though of course that could have been because of the whole dropping out of St. Vladimir's thing…

But either way Nathan Ivashkov was one of those royals. So Joey certainly didn't miss his presence when she had no choice but to accompany Adrian to thieve from his own father's drink supply.

They'd just been on their way back to Adrian's room when it had happened. Adrian was being his usual self, so Joey had expressed her wish for someone to try and bump him off… And then it almost seemed to come true.

A figure in black appeared out of the closest doorway and lunged straight at Adrian without hesitation. Of course Adrian was too slow to react – probably not helped by the two drinks that he'd already had earlier – but Joey wasn't. She threw herself into the fray, roughly pushing Adrian out of the way. He looked surprised but seemed more interested in keeping the two bottles of Jagermeister safe than anything else.

Joey didn't recognise the attacker. He was quite young with untidy black hair and green eyes ringed with dark shadows. He had to be the Ray Hawthorne that Hana had mentioned when Joey's field training had first started – the one guardian whom she hadn't heard of.

With Adrian suitably out of the way, Joey was prepared to fight. She dived straight at newcomer Ray, who dodged out of her way. He rounded the move off with a sweeping kick, his foot hitting Joey over the back. She absorbed the brunt of the move in a crouching stance and bounced back up, following through with a punch of her own.

Ray managed to avoid it and most of the following blows, retaliating with more punches. A few of them landed but Joey didn't let them deter her. She was running on pure adrenaline right now. She may have only been waiting five days for this… But five days was more than enough.

She used her weaker arm to block the next punch, only just about managing it, but it gave her the briefest window of opportunity to strike with her better arm. Her fist connected successfully with Ray's jaw, sending him reeling backwards and into the wall behind him.

Like with all other standard field training, Joey had been told beforehand not to hold back in fear of hurting the 'Strigoi'. The guardians had been trained for this kind of thing. If they didn't get to observe her fighting at her full potential then the exercise was rendered futile. She'd be expected to fight to her best standards against a real Strigoi, so this was what they wanted to see now.

And Joey was totally okay with that. The moment Ray hit the wall she was punching him again, this time closer to the temple. He attempted to block but she twisted his arm round across his own chest and grabbed her practice stake with her other hand in the same movement. The hold allowed her the valuable second she needed to get the stake positioned over his heart. The exercise was over.

"Well done, Miss Hatcher," Ray commended her politely, remarkably calm considering the situation. "You've passed the first test."

Joey lowered the stake, a little breathless but feeling pleased. "Not bad yourself."

Any other guardian would probably have felt patronised to be complimented by a novice, but newbie Ray didn't seem to mind. "Thank you," he said graciously. He took a small notepad and pen from his pocket and quickly jotted down several notes. "Good luck with the next test."

Adrian watched him walk off with a bemused look on his face. He seemed mildly entertained by the whole event. Most Moroi would have been at least a little shaken, even by a fake attack. Adrian had clearly already had enough to drink to dull the excitement down.

"Well that was fun," he remarked. "Who knew you had that in you, Hatchet."

"Just get moving," said Joey, tempted to put her boot somewhere where the sun most definitely didn't shine.

Her first success was the only highlight of the day. Adrian was as aggravating as ever to be around and apparently waking hours weren't enough time to annoy her in anymore… Because when she finally managed to sleep that night she received an unwelcome surprise.

Whatever she'd been dreaming of before, it had dissolved until she was standing in a large lounge with dark furniture and red window hangings. It was a lot more stately-looking than what Joey had been used to, but she was sure that this was one of the rooms at St. Vladimir's Academy. She'd never been into any of the rooms like this before – how had she managed to dream this one up in such good clarity?

"Bet you didn't have a room as nice as this, did you?"

Joey turned, a growing sense of dread inside her. "I should have known not to eat pizza before bed. They always say it gives you nightmares."

Adrian looked mildly amused by her comment. "What are you talking about? I'm quite literally the man of your dreams."

Joey groaned. That was cringe worthy even by Adrian's standards. "Please don't go there," she said, looking around the room again.

Adrian watched her, the amused look still on his face. "Looking for something?"

"I'm hoping there might be a gun lying around so I can shoot myself in the head and wake up," replied Joey, only half sarcastically.

"And after I went out of my way to surprise you with this," said Adrian, shaking his head.

Joey ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "Urgh… Seriously, what was in that pizza?! _Why_ are you in my head even when I'm asleep?"

Adrian gave her a wide grin. "You know, there are a _million_ things I could say to that… But I'll admit that _this_…" He gestured around him. "Is actually thanks to yours truly. Meaning this isn't your everyday dream."

"What are you talking about?" Joey frowned. "Are you saying I'm _not_ dreaming? Does that mean I died and went to hell instead?"

"Cute," said Adrian appreciatively. "But no. I guess you could say this is a little talent of mine."

"I don't get it…"

"Well this is still _your_ dream. I'm just visiting," explained Adrian. "But I _do_ have a certain amount of control over it."

Joey's frown deepened. "How is that possible?"

Moroi had special abilities of their own, generally specialising in one of the four main elements – earth, air, fire and water. Joey had never heard of anything like _this_ before… But it made more sense of why the dream was so realistic and felt like it was lapsing in real time. And how the room was so detailed, despite it being a place she'd never been to before.

"What can I say? I'm special," grinned Adrian.

"Special needs is more like it," Joey muttered. "So I'm guessing the setting is your choice too?"

"You catch on fast, Hatchet."

Joey still wasn't sure she believed him… But she was more prepared to accept Adrian's idea than the possibility of her dreaming this whole thing up herself. "So since when were you ever at St. Vlad's?"

"Back when you were off gallivanting and playing the rebel," said Adrian. "It's a shame. You missed out on all the fun."

Well that part was certainly right. Joey had heard about the group of Strigoi that had attacked the Academy whilst she'd been absent. That had certainly been one of her bigger regrets over being so spontaneous and doing her disappearing act… Like Adrian had said, she really _had_ missed out on all the fun. She would have given anything to have been a part of that battle.

"Don't tell me you were here to join in the fight?" Joey asked in disbelief.

Adrian gave her a condescending look in response and held up his hands. "Do you really think I'd bloody these in a fight?"

Now _that_ Joey could believe. "So why were you here then?"

Adrian shrugged. "You're not the only one who sometimes craves a change of pace." He looked around the room, an almost wistful expression on his face. "And I have to say I had some good times here…"

Adrian getting all sentimental and misty-eyed? Ew… Maybe Joey really was dreaming after all. "Right… Well I don't know if it really _is_ you doing all this, but if it is then I'd like you to end it now."

Adrian's expression reverted back to amusement. "You don't want to see more of what I can do?"

Joey felt the slightest movement in the air around her, like a light breeze ruffling her clothes. She looked down and saw that she was suddenly wearing the pyjama shorts and tank top that she'd gone to sleep in. Only seconds before she'd been wearing some plain old jeans and a Joan Jett tee.

"What the hell?!" she spluttered. "Did _you_ just do that?" She really _wasn't_ dreaming. Hell would freeze over before she dreamt of Adrian Ivashkov changing her clothes – magically or otherwise.

"I have to admit I'm really quite fond of those," Adrian mused appreciatively, indicating Joey's pyjamas.

"Try dressing me in anything less than this and you'll regret it," Joey threatened. She already felt violated enough as it was.

Adrian chuckled. "Don't worry. I value my life more than that."

"That's the smartest thing you've ever said," Joey remarked dryly. "And going back to my previous point… What was it? Oh yeah, go away now."

"That's not how you put it before."

"Because that was before I suddenly became your Malibu Barbie."

Adrian laughed again. "Touché. As you wish then…" The room started to blur and crackle, like an old TV that needed tuning. "Sweet dreams, Hatchet…"

Joey awoke rather abruptly. She was back on Adrian's floor and it was still dark. How long had she even been asleep? Did this mean that Adrian was awake now too if what he'd said was true? She rolled over to face the door. She didn't want to know… She'd seen enough of Adrian's annoying face for one night.

XXX

The first Sunday of the field training could not come quick enough. Joey had never been as grateful as she was when it finally rolled around. As soon as it hit midnight on the Saturday, she was bidding Adrian a hasty farewell and getting out of that room as fast as she could.

She had twenty-four wonderful hours to herself that she could spend however she wished. And the first thing that she wanted after the torturous week was a strong drink. Following that she wanted to get outside for a bit, eat something a bit more fanciable than takeout pizza, and find some better company. And not necessarily in that order.

Joey headed straight for one of the bars on the lower level of the Court's complex. This one in particular was always fairly busy, no matter what time it was. And that was exactly what she wanted. By this point she was almost desperate to be around _normal_ people…

After a couple of hours she felt much more content. Not only did she have the absence of Adrian – not to mention the presence of drink and the chatter of other residents of the Court – she could actually relax for once. She didn't have to be constantly on alert for the possibility of one of the faux Strigoi attacks. For now she could just _chill_.

The bar started to die down a little after a while and the other drinkers who were there started to become more drunk and more irritating. Time to move on... Joey headed over towards one of the all-hour Japanese eateries instead. This was one of the best things about living at Court – the lower level was like being at a shopping mall. Just minus the shops. But of course Joey didn't mind about that. She was only interested in the bars and the food places.

She ordered some gatsu chicken to go and went to sit outside in the gardens at the back of the main Court. It was obviously still dark out, being on a Moroi schedule, but it was a warm night and it was very peaceful outside. Certainly a contrast to the time she'd had to spend with Adrian so far.

Joey had only just finished eating when her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She shoved her chopsticks into the now empty takeout box and pulled her phone out with her free hand. She sighed when she saw the name on the display.

She'd grudgingly swapped numbers with Adrian the day before. As much as she didn't want to be harassed by him in her free time, she knew that the rich boy was quite unpredictable. If it reached the Monday and her charge had gone AWOL with some shameless girl then she was going to be in the shit. She needed a way to keep tabs on him.

She reluctantly clicked onto the text message. '_Fancy coming to move the snake?_'

Joey gritted her teeth as she texted back her reply. '_So help you, that had better not be a euphemism._'

The response came quick again. '_Would I ever do that? I have company and it turns out she's not keen on snakes. The reptilian kind obviously._'

Ew… Joey did _not_ need that much information. So Adrian had a girl round already?! She'd barely been out of the room for a few hours! Yeesh… What a man slut.

She typed out another irritated reply. '_Move the tank yourself._'

She didn't have to wait long for the next message. '_Remember how my hands aren't used for fighting? Well they're not used for carrying things either._'

Joey snapped her phone shut in annoyance. Of course… Lazy rich boys didn't do manual labour. But the most annoying thing about it was that she couldn't _really_ complain. Adrian could have said from the offset that she couldn't keep Blackheart in his room if he'd wanted to… But he hadn't. So Joey had to try and play nice if she wanted her pet to stay in his good books.

As an afterthought she opened her phone again and sent one last text before getting to her feet. '_You'd better have some clothes on when I get there or I'll let Blackheart loose in your room._' Well she couldn't play nice _all_ the time.

She deposited her takeout box in one of the nearest trashcans and grudgingly made her way back to Adrian's room. She didn't bother knocking – she just barged straight through the door, very astutely not looking anywhere but down at the carpet. "Right. Let's just get this over with."

"You don't have to stare at your feet," came Adrian's amused voice. "I _did_ heed your warning."

In spite of herself, Joey looked up. Thankfully Adrian was telling the truth. He was sat on the edge of the bed still in his jeans and wearing an unbuttoned shirt. Joey caught a glimpse of a girl with red hair and glasses behind him, but quickly averted her gaze again. The less she knew about Adrian's booty calls, the better it would be for her sanity.

She concentrated instead on getting hold of Blackheart's tank before any suggestions could be made about her staying to join them. With Adrian, that was always possible. "She'd just better be gone before midnight," Joey warned.

Not wanting to give Adrian time to make another smart comeback, she hurriedly struggled out of the room with the tank, leaving the door open. She could probably have shut it with her foot, but she didn't just to be annoying. She took Blackheart back to her own room in the meantime and decided to let her out for a bit.

"How is he still managing to annoy me even on my day off?!" she lamented to the snake that was now twisting its way through her hands and around her forearms, as she reclined back on the cold bed.

Of course Blackheart had no response to give, but Joey began to feel less frustrated the longer she lay there. She sighed. This first week had been aggravating enough. How was she supposed to get through another few months of this? Besides the fake Strigoi attack, it didn't feel much like she was doing guardian duties… It felt more like babysitting.

Somebody knocked on the door, disturbing her thoughts. Joey sat up, feeling a sense of foreboding. If this was Adrian then she was definitely prepared to see if her pet snake really was big enough to strangle somebody. She crossed the room and reluctantly opened the door.

"Hi sweetie. I was hoping I'd find you here."

"Oh, hey Mom…" Joey breathed a sigh of relief. She hooked Blackheart around her shoulders – it looked like her pet wasn't going to get her prey today.

"I knew it was your day off today so I thought I'd come and see how you were doing," said Mela Conta. She took one look at Joey's face and made up her own mind. "But I'm guessing it's not going so great…"

"You could say that," Joey agreed.

"Come on," said Mela, steering her daughter back into the room and shutting the door behind her. "Let's talk it out."

Ever the good politician, Mela's preferred method for problem solving was talking things through. They both sat back down on the bed and she allowed her daughter to complain to her about everything that was on her mind. Which generally all came down to one thing.

"I wouldn't really wanna walk in on a good friend in that situation," Joey pointed out. "Let alone somebody I don't even like. It was totally unreasonable of him to ask me to go in there, knowing what he's just about to do!" In the midst of her ranting, she'd conveniently forgotten the whole 'couldn't complain' idea.

Mela let Joey talk herself out before making her own point. "Well the fact is that no matter how much he annoys you, no matter how unreasonable he may or may not be, he's still your charge. If you want the fair chance to become a guardian now you have to stick with your field training. It's like it or lump it basically."

Joey scowled to herself. Her mom was right. She was _always _right. There were other guardians who didn't necessarily get on with their charge, but you didn't hear them complaining. It was all about being professional – no matter how aggravating the person was who you had to protect. You worked as hard as you could to protect them regardless.

When Joey didn't say anything Mela added, "Do you know why we pushed you two together when you were kids?"

Joey was a little startled. She'd never really imagined there to be a proper reason behind it. "No, why?"

"Though most of the royals were always quite accepting of mine and your dad's marriage, there's still a couple of old-fashioned fools who believe it's 'wrong' and 'unnatural'," Mela explained. "In general Moroi and dhampir friendship are fairly common, but not so much inside the Court itself. So we wanted you and Adrian to be an example of that."

Joey made a face. "Plan kinda backfired seeing as we were never friends on any level…" She then frowned as she realised something. "Why would Nathan Ivashkov agree to that though? He's never exactly been my biggest fan."

"Because we didn't allow him a say in it," said Mela, almost smugly. "This was mine and Daniella Ivashkov's idea. She actually always supported me in the political side of things, so she didn't mind going along with it."

From what Joey knew of Adrian's mother that didn't sound much like her. She hadn't expected her to be one to favour Moroi-dhampir relations, especially when it came to involving her own son. But then she'd never really understood how different things could be from a political viewpoint.

"Wait… You weren't ever hoping for anything more than a friendship when you planned this, were you?" Joey asked suspiciously, sincerely hoping that the answer was no.

"It wasn't the original intent," Mela reassured. "But we wouldn't have been against it if it had progressed that way between you two." She laughed at the face Joey was making. "Besides, Adrian's from an extremely powerful family. If things had gone that way it would have looked good for our family too."

"Sorry, but that's never gonna happen," said Joey, really quite appalled by the idea. Who knew her mom had such a manipulative side when it came to image?

"Well I can always have hope for you yet," Mela teased. "They say that there's a fine line between love and hate."

Joey looked quite horrified. "Ew is all I can say to that."

Mela laughed again. "Well the reason I'm telling you this is that I just want you to try and be a good guardian to him, okay? It really does look good for us, and he's not as bad as you think. He's had a bit of a tough time lately."

"Why, did they stop doing the cigarettes he likes?" said Joey sarcastically.

Mela ignored her daughter's sarcasm. "He had a rough break-up not that long before you came back to the Court, so go easy on him."

Joey couldn't imagine Adrian having a real relationship, let alone a real break-up. She certainly couldn't imagine him being particularly cut up about it. "Huh."

"So now that you've finished complaining about your charge, what do you think about the rest of the field training so far?" Mela asked.

"It's a lot of waiting around," Joey admitted. "I mean, I knew it would be anyway. Anyone training to be a guardian knows that. I just didn't know _how_ much waiting around you had to do… But I did well with my first fight! Did you hear I already beat one of the guardians?"

"Of course I did," Mela smiled. "Everyone knows to give me the gossip on how you've been doing! Ray Hawthorne was quite impressed from the sounds of it."

"Ah, it was great! I managed to get him in the jaw twice!" Joey rambled on excitedly, giving her mother a play-by-play recount on how the fight had gone. They sat talking for another half an hour before Mela deigned that it was time for her to take off.

"We've got a council meeting tomorrow, so I need to go and brush up on a couple of things that I wanted to bring up," she explained, getting to her feet. "But I'll see if I can find you again next Sunday and see how you're doing."

"Yeah, okay," said Joey brightly. She'd always gotten on well with her mom and she enjoyed their talks, even if the things she told her weren't always what she wanted to hear. "I hope it goes alright."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll muddle through it," said Mela casually. Joey just smiled. What her mom did could never be described as 'muddling through'. "Good luck again with your training. And remember, try not to be _too_ mean to Adrian."

Joey made a face. "Yeah, yeah, I'll try." Trying didn't necessarily mean succeeding.

Mela stroked the side of Blackheart's head, who was still hanging contently around Joey's neck. "And you know that threats always work if he _really_ won't play ball," she joked.

Joey's face split into a grin. "Now _that_ I can do."


End file.
